HiRez Poll Black Sabbath - LIVE EVIL [Blu-ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new reissue of the classic live album from Black Sabbath entitled "Live Evil".
This reissue on Blu-ray Audio disc courtesy of Rhino Records contains both the original stereo mix and a brand new Dolby Atmos mix.

 

[mrcond]

Ok I guess I’ll go first. I’m listening on my 7.2.4 system. This one will not be anyone’s go-to Atmos demo disc by any stretch. The overall sound quality is pretty muddy. Dio’s vocals, Iommi’s guitar and Geezer’s bass are mixed right down the middle I mean it’s practically mono, no center speaker that I can hear but equal parts front left and front right. Only the drums have some stereo spread, and even that isn’t much. Surround activity is limited to the usual live mix crowd noise and hall reverb (a very pronounced delay if you put your ear up to the side surrounds). I hear very little, maybe even nothing, coming from heights.

That all being said, the performance itself is good, especially the Dio era tunes. It takes a little getting used to hearing Ronnie singing the Ozzy tunes. You can really crank this since there is not a lot of piercing treble to hurt your ears. I don’t vote myself but imagine a lot of people voting in the 7-8 range.

 

[kap'n krunch]

I am not as benevolent.. it sucks..yeah , I was not expecting a MCH extravaganza coming from a 3 piece band but I would have stretched the stereo as much as possible, hell, the Quadio of Paranoid is the total opposite of this, and the sound is very muddy, my Japanese LP sounds way better than this.
And, yes, I am very radical , I'll give stuff either a 9 or 10 or a 1 or 2. This one is a 2 cause I love Ronnie's performance but do stay away...
I want my money back!
Sorry!
(edit: and yes, ALL of the Surrounds are Ronnie's voice through a dark sounding reverb.. I might add the Matt Wallace guy to the "avoid" ATMOS engineers)

 

[cbmmm3]

mine arrived today, geez ----you guys are scaring me. perhaps I should send it back ? Or crack it open..........

 

[H.A.L.]

Glad I shy away from live albums in surround.

 

[jimfisheye]

I love live albums done right in surround! (Few and far between as they are.) This is the Sabbath album to get mixed in Atmos?!?! And it's faux Atmos too? Yeah, nothing but generated verb in the surround channels gets called phony. That gets doubled if it's a live album that should have already too much natural ambience from the venue. Doubled again if that shit is delivered in 12 channel. Up to 400% fake on the fake meter so far. This album?! I do like the Ronnie/Sabbath tracks on here! They sound great actually. The original mix sucks. The 24 bit HD remix from a year or so ago sucks. But those tracks are great! But this album for the first Sabbath 12 channel release?!

 

[jaap74]

Why would they even bothering releasing it as a physical product if its so crappy?

 

[izgoblin]

Why would they even bothering releasing it as a physical product if its so crappy?

That's exactly what I wondered. Maybe they're just thinking it will automatically sell because it's Sabbath?

 

[aoxomoxoa]

I haven't heard this album in decades.
It sounded like shit back then and it sounds only a tad better now.
Still, it's sorta fun to revisit this era of Sabbath. I doubt I will play this much

 

[mrcond]

I’m just waiting for @Clement to say “Listening now! 2.5 on our poll thread!”

 

[aoxomoxoa]

Dio does a good job with the silly satanic lyrics. He's more convincing than the Oz. I just realized Vinny Appice is on this too.
I give it a 6 and I felt I was being a bit harsh. The drumming is solid.

 

[mandrix]

If you listen to Steve Hackett's recent series of live recordings, Djabe, or most PT/Steven Wilson's, they are usually pretty darn good for live performances.
This one...not so much. Not a big Dio fan in this case...the two Black Sabbath mainstays on drums and guitar are solid Sabbath. Recording/mixing: Pure Evil.
I'm giving it a 6.

 

[beerking]

I had to switch it to DTS stereo!!
As I can at least listen to it this way.
I just couldn't take his voice being reverbed and mashed around the surrounds.
To put it bluntly it got on my t.ts.
The music is good....singing humm
5/6
So being a generous sole it's a 6....just.

 

[Mark Zutkoff]

I thought I liked this album, but I couldn't get through this entire mix. I'm a big Ronnie Dio fan (not to mention Iommi, Butler, and Appice), but this version of an already controversial album (supposedly every band member kept insisting their part be raised in the mix) does him no favors. The surround is terrible, but at least it provides some bass. When I switched to the stereo, even that practically disappeared. This one will rarely be played, I'm afraid.

 

[RustyM]

Of the second Rhino ATMOS bundle, this is the only disc that lights up ATMOS on my 11.4 receiver. I became a Rhino cheerleader because of the QUADIO series. I had high expectations and excitement for the ATMOS series. So what does the Atmos deliver on this disc? A front centered wall of sound with a low volume constant cheering crowd in the surround. To place myself in the crowd, I turned up the volume to 90db, and when the band started playing the wall of sound knocks you out of your seat (and I didn't hear any distortion) That didn't last long for me, but I image a Black Sabbath or metal fan doing this. I've read comments about the sound being muddy, and I get it. It lacks crispness and kick. Also, I don't think anything came out of my sub woofer. Sadly, there is no 5.1 mix. Ronnie Dio does a good job for bringing a high-octane performance. The rest of the band plays well with a special "hats-off" to the drummer. I think the insert for the packaging could provide more information. For example, I'm interested in Hz/bit rate. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody, but a die-hard Sabbath/metal fan might enjoy this.
SURROUND MIX - 1
AUDIO FIDELITY - 2
CONTENT - 3
OVERALL PACKAGE - 0

That's a 6 from me.

 

[duanerocks2014]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new reissue of the classic live album from Black Sabbath entitled "Live Evil".
This reissue on Blu-ray Audio disc courtesy of Rhino Records contains both the original stereo mix and a brand new Dolby Atmos mix.

This release is kinda redundant imo? As they’ve already released a box set that has a great remix version of it that cannot be improved with a Atmos mix? Well I’m sure it will sell because of the popularity of Atmos right now, so to each his own, but I’m fine with the box set that I have

 

[marpow]

I voted 9.
Let me put into context my experience.
Owned the original 1984 CD, purchased the Rhino Stereo Box Set 6/7/2023. Rhino Atmos 9/6/2024.
My surround review based on a few things.
My Atmos listen Blu Ray rip. Atmos MKV file, 24bit/48Khz. Single file entire DR 16. Chapters (tracks) DR 9, 10, 11's, 12's, 13's.
I also ripped the core, only available by ripping, 5.1 Dolby Digital 24bit, 48Khz. DR's 9's,11's, 12's, 13's, 14.

Both the 5.1 and the Atmos have a foundation of 4.0. You might see some non existent movement in the center channel, but let's just call it 4.0.
The 4.0 bed is strong front and right, weak rears. Audience dominant in rears.

The 5.1-really 4.0 Dolby Digital (only from ripping), it's not stereo but it's more than stereo and adds some punch.

The sonic fidelity in all versions is superb.

In Atmos all 4 heights are full blast all the time, that reverb, stereo on top of stereo, whatever you want to call it, is great.

The ATMOS brought me to a "this is fantastic" not for Prog Rock/Techno Atmos with objects and discrete different speaker moves,
but for shear power. I don't know if your rig is equal to my Hot Rod but this is why I put the time and effort building mine, power.
The foundation equal to the 5.1 rip, but the heights, oh man, not discrete but Holy Heck do they bring the power of the recording out, big time.
One item I feel like I heard for the first time was Dio, just giving it his all with vocal vengeance, very cool. Another you can hear pretty good the audience in the rears at times even when the music is playing.
Turn up that drum solo in War Pigs, cool man.

Give ATMOS a chance. If you listened to this Atmos, and your not, I only like Atmos that is different parts, different speakers, give this another chance, relax and turn it up and just listen to how well your little hot rod drives.

So, for me listening to years of stereo, this new Atmos Rhino Black Sabbath is where it's at man.

Please keep polls pure to your listening experience only.

 

[Klaus Rosenthal]

Oof, a mix so bad I didn't even feel like reviewing it at the time. The whole album is basically mono with just a hint of stereo separation and the occasional overdub or whatever in the surrounds. This is about as tame and unadventurous as a mix can get. Points for being an otherwise excellent album with perfectly fine audio quality for its age and low cost too, but totally not recommended. 4/10, my lowest rating ever. That said I won't be selling this one, mostly because someone ran off with my cd copy at some point and this is a decent replacement lol.